Sanitary toothbrush



Aug l2 9 W240 R w. CONGER SANITARY TOOTHBRUSH Filed J5me 22-. 1923 IN V EN TOR.

l-flerf 2913695 A TTORNE Y.

Patented Aug. 12, 1924.

I iscaan PATENT ()FFlC-E.

ROBERT w. oonena'on BRISTOW, oxrano'ivm.

snivrrnnv 'IOOTI-IBRUSH.

Application filed June 22, 1923. serial No. 647,197.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT IV. OONGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bristow, in the county of Greek and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in :Sanitary Toothbrushes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tooth brushes having removable bristles. I

My broad object is to provide a tooth brush which can always be conveniently kept in a thoroughly sanitary condition.

A specific object is to provide a brush of this character so constructed that it can be supplied with a new set of bristles or brushes proper at any time, and so that the handle portion which carries the brushes can be sterilized as easily as a doctors lnstruments.

Another ob ect is to provide a brush having its head formed of an open frame, so'

that there is scarcely no space left for the accumulation of particles of food, saliva, germ illftntl'ld. other filth, such as 1s common in ordinary tooth brushes.

A. further object is to provide a brushhaving a removable head adapted to be received into the handle of the brush for con venience in carrying the brush in the vest pocket when traveling, and for keeping the brush head thoroughly clean and protected from dust or contamination of any kind when thus carried.

A still further object is to provide a brush so constructed that not only can thebrush' head be stored within thehandle,but also a supply of bristles for renewing the brush proper; a brush that will be small and unusually light in weight, butwithal very strong and durable, .and hence specially adapted to be conveniently carried in the pocket.

An additional object is to provide a brush in which the bristles can be employed interchangeably in pairs or sets of two, three, or

six, as the special needs of each case may require, or as the preference of the user may suggest.

Other objects description.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed, reference bein p had to the accompanying drawings, in w 1ich:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of-the brush will appear inthe subjoined of three tufts each. Fig. 5-shows a set of two tufts. Fig. 6 is a perspective on an enlarged scale, showing the brush head, as il- 'lustrated in Fig. 1, ready for the reception of the sets of tufts; and, Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of the brushes ready for use. i

Referring further to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the brush handle which is hollow, and is provided at its outer end with a snugly fitting cap 2. The head of the brush comprises an open frame formed of a continuous wire 3 bent upon itself to form a loop having diver-gent sides, with the ends of the wire bent into engagement with each other at the inner end of the head, and received into a short sleeve 4. This sleeve is tapered at its forward end 4& to snugly fit the two ends of the wire, and has room inside around the ends of the wire to receive a drop or two of solder for very reliably uniting the wire ends and collar together. The inner end of the handle 1 is reduced at 5 to form a socket 6 into which the inner end of the collar 1 is snugly but removably received when the parts are assembled in opera-tive position. "Suitably secured, as by soldering, on the divergent sides of the looped wire 8, are the brush holders 7 having dovetailed grooves 8, into which the sets of tufts 9 are received. The tuft blocks 10 are adapted to fit the dovetailed grooves 8. These tuft blocks 10 may contain any desired number of tufts. In Fig. 7 I have shown a single block containing six tufts, whereas, in Fig. 4; I have shown two blocks containing three'tuftseach, which is the equivalent of the other; while in Fig. 5, I have shown one block containing two tufts. Three of these latter would be the equivalent of either of the others when inserted in the grooves 8. Hence it will be seen that tuft blocks with two, three, orsix tufts can be used with equal facility, thus providing a brush conforming to the idea of pyorrhea specialists who often recommend several brushes of different numbers of tufts in the treatment of that disease.

The fact that the guideways 7 and the reforth over them, which movement very a rapidly removes impurities from the teeth,

and also causes the brush to cover the entire exposed area of the teeth as completely as Would be done by a brush having a greater number of rows oftufts but arranged paral- I lel with each other, the device acting, in this respect, on the same principle as an A-shaped harrow having teeth on the two long divergent bars of the A, causing the two rows of teeth to traverse the entire area of ground traveled over by the harrow.

Thus I have provided a brush head having only two rows of tufts with an open space 11 between the rows to prevent the lodgment of food particles, and yet said tuft-s are so arranged that the entire area of the teeth are attacked as the brush is moved back and forth over them.

Whenever the tufts carried by a block become foul or worn, that block is replaced by a new one, just as a dull safety razor blade is replaced by a new one; and as the tufts are carried in the handle of the device, worn tufts can be quickly replaced by new ones.

Whenever a tuft loses its stiffness, it becomes practically useless, and should be discarded for that reason regardless of other reasons.

It is a matter of common experience wit-h users of tooth brushes that the tufts at the forward end of the brush wear out much more rapidly than those at the rear end of the brush head; but with my arrangement, the whole brush may be kept in prime condition all the time.

Vhen the brush head and the sets of tufts are all placed inside the handle 1, as shown in Fig. 3, the whole thing can be carried in the vest pocket almost as conveniently as a pencil. Making the handle flat as illustrated in Fig. 3 causes the device to take up very little room in the pocket. Having the handle hollow, and the head formed of a light open frame gives a very light construction. These parts are made preferably of metal, so that they can be thoroughly and conveniently sterilized; they may be made of gold, silver, or other metal, and may be either solid or plated. For ordinary economical construction, the nickel plated article is neat and genteel in appearance. When made of aluminum the device is exceedingly light for carrying about in the vest pocket.

When the brush heads and tufts are in the handle they are always thoroughly proteeted from contamination, even in the hottest and most sticky weather, or when there is a superabundance of dust. Hence it will be seen that with my invention a tooth brush may become as much of an ornament as a gold pencil, and may be as conveniently carried about, being entirely different in this respect from the ordinary tooth brush which is always more or less bunglesome and inconvenient when attempted to be carried in ones pocket.

It is also manifest that with my invention one may always have a clean, sanitary brush instead of one too often laden with filth and germs to such an extent as to be offensive and unpleasant to think about.

The neatness and convenience of my brush are two points that make avery strong appeal to people of dainty and cultivated tastes, irrespective of all its other advantages.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1- A device of the character described having a head comprising an open frame formed of a continuous piece of wire bent upon itself to form an elongated loop having divergent sides with. the ends of the wire bent into engagement with each other at the inner end of the head, whereby to provide a head having an unbroken open space between its two sides; a tapered 1ne tallic collar adapted at its smaller end to snugly receive the two meeting ends of the wire, said wire ends and collar being integrally united together inside the collar by soldering; a handle for the device, said handle being reduced at its inner end and provided with a socket adapted to remova'bly receive the inner end of the metallic collar, said divergent sides of the wire head having metallic channels integrally secured t their under sides as by soldering; whereby to provide for t-l e head and the channels and the collar an unbroken metallic surface for sterilizing purposes; a plurality of removable tuft blocks for said metallic channels, the hollow handle of the device being made of a shape and size to receive and house the removable head when not in use; and a cap for the outer end of the handle.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ROBERT \V. CONGER. 

